What are the totally flexible jobs? Do they exist?

Software developer, although deadlines can be stressy. I'm a humanities graduate too.

Absolutely it can be a long term choice but only if you're actually enthusiastic about working with children, if you just want something to fit around your own, you probably won't want to do it for 20 years

Yes this. CS is very flexible

Parish Clerks have this flexibility, decent pay around £20 per hour too for a reasonable sized parish when I was unqualified going up after qualification. I did this in evenings/nap times. Now work in local government on flexitime and so long as hours are done, they don’t mind when.

Which is the good thing about childminding. My friend started childminding when her kids were young and they’re now 17 and 21 and she’s still doing it.

Clerk to Governors? Fixed meetings (usually evenings) so you’d have time to either arrange your husband to be back or get alternative childcare. Some meetings on Teams aswell. Rest of the work is completely flexible and can do in your own time. You can work for yourself or a lodal authority or a clerking service or an individual school and with any of those options you can take on as many schools as you want. Doesn’t pay as much as you want but does fit perfectly into the hours you want (I know as I do it for exactly the same reasons!)

to Make the kind of money your after that’s a 45k salary! Would make more sense to surely do an office job or whatever it was you’ve done before and just work part time / could you not so say a 3 day week and then 2 days off and then only paying childcare for after school 3 days?

I work 4days and they don’t mind me working 8-3 with no lunch break (i eat at my desk and hike still working)
so that’s a 28hour week but can get my kids by 3.30

No worries, it's a sales advisor role for insurance. Basically on the phones selling products, nothing exciting but I'm interested in progressing and there's lots of opportunities to do that.

TA at your DC's school?

Mentoring or coaching, that's what I do now. Totally flexible and great money.

Only there is no chance of op being paid £25ph for admin work in the CS

I started my own business and WFH. It means I set my own rates of pay and am around for every sick day/school drop off and pick up/ DS' hospital appointments

I think it’s as much the company as it is the role @HolyGrailSeeker I work 8-4.30 months-Fri but I have flexi time.

I log on at 7 and then I log off at 8:30 and drop my dc to school and go on site for 9 and I can wfh 2-3 days a week also. My dc are a bit older so i sometimes collect them and then work for an hour while they have some downtime. If I am on site I use the Afterschool service.

I work for a large global healthcare company (pharmaceuticals) however they don’t all offer the same flexibility

Education -Maybe agency work...supply TA roles. Can do daily supply work, pick 'n choose. Hope helpful :)

Childminding could definitely be an option and I had a friend that did this.
Just bear in mind your own children might want you to themselves sometimes, and as they get older it would mean most likely that they couldn’t do activities and clubs after school. Plus if you offer term time only you’ll be cutting down your potential client base but if you do all year round your time off will be limited.

I only have 2 babies, 1 and 2 days a week respectively. Not advertising for more while I get to grips with it all. Not a long term plan for me, just until youngest is in school probably. I certainly prefer it to the night shifts I used to do! I got talked into it by another childminder I meet at the park, she is now my back up as well. Took months and months to get registered, and I'm still not able to provide funded hours! So if you're considering it, get the ball rolling ASAP but hasn't been expensive, the £600 grant did more or less cover it all so nothing to lose. I do worry about my kids not liking sharing me, but then the alternative is that they would be in childcare.
What am I realising quickly though, is the children are not the hard part for me. It's managing the parents 😂

@HolyGrailSeeker i also knew someone in a similar situation to you who became a mortgage advisor. You have to complete a couple of exams which was a few hundred pounds but I think are done online with home study. They worked for a collective called the mortgage mum, you don’t get a salary but make money for every mortgage you process (client fee and bank commission) so entirely up to you how many hours you put in. You do need to have an interest in networking and sales to make it work though.

I'm been a SAHM and in last week I have literally been offered a job that will be within school hours (4 hour shifts between 9-3, company is aiming to keep it 10-2). I have initial training and then will be able to WFH and the company has extensive training opportunities, including studying for a degree alongside working. It's a large insurance company - pay is not amazing but for now worth it for the flexibility. They are out there!

Lovely way to meet people and not just be ‘someone’s mum’ too - the childminders and nannies at the school gate are really friendly and you find ones to join on park walks/playgroups/coffee mornings. The gossip is golden!! I am still very close friends with a couple of my CM friends (going on hols with one soon as she is slowing down her practice as the last of her charges prepares for school).

If you pop on Facebook there and search your area and ‘childminders’ you will specific pages for CMs in your area and find others who can advise you on how they’re set up, best play groups, which training courses the local council run etc. I found them to be incredibly supportive and welcoming. They will refer parents to you once they get to know you, too.

What do you actually want to do?

The kids won't be young forever so I would think about setting yourself up for the longer term

Try

Charity job.co.uk

Lots of wfh jobs and lots of charities (although not all)with excellent approaches you can flexible working and work life balance.